The Corralitas Red Car Property was a private right-of-way through Silver Lake (Los Angeles) for the Pacific Electric interurban streetcar. The “Big Red Cars” ran until 1955 when the Glendale Line was decommissioned for freeway construction. For almost 40 years, a series of developers tried and failed to develop the Corralitas Red Car Property. It's not a park, it just looks like one.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Photo: Diane Edwardson June 6, 2016. The native trees (downslope from the dying Eucalyptus and the complete right side of frame) looked spectacular earlier in June. (Click on photos to enlarge)

The non-native invasive Castor Beans at the lowest point, at base of the slope were 4 to 6' tall. Brush clearance had not yet been done, nor had it been done by the date of the fire.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, June 19, 2016. Fire crews stayed on scene for about 24 hours to ensure hot hot spots didn't spark new fires. Hard to tell at this point, but most of the native trees were still green, just a little crispy around the edges. All the combined helicopter water drops and ground crews manning hoses not only saved homes, but may have helped save the trees in the long term.

Photo: Diane Edwardson June 20, 2016. One day after the fire, large protected native Coast Live Oak, halfway up the slope, was mostly green.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, July 9, 2016. Three weeks later and even the native trees that did not burn in the fire, but fried in the extreme heat of the fire. Mature native trees can survive major wildland fires in Southern California, so we hope they'll recover from the 2016 Silver Lake Fire.

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Who we are

Community Residents’ Association for Parks is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 1997 by our Silver Lake neighborhood. We are dedicated to acquisition and preservation of the Corralitas Red Car Property as a park in partnership with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
Contact: redcarproperty@gmail.com

Community Residents’ Association for Parks is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 1997 by our Silver Lake neighborhood. We are dedicated to acquisition and preservation of the Corralitas Red Car Property as a park in partnership with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.